Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
Acts 12:3-17 Introduction The questions that I most often encounter are things like why did this bad thing happen or why did this good thing not happen? Those are normal questions to ask but how often we ask those questions may depend our theological context. I attended a church where many of the people believed … Read More “Why Do Good Things Happen?” »
Matthew 16:13-23 Introduction We have a lot of information in the Bible about the lives of people who have sought to follow God. But why? Why not just have a list of commands, the dos and don’ts of what life is supposed to look like? Rules are fine but lists of commands do not necessarily … Read More “Learning From Peter” »
I have witnessed a sense of shock this morning, perhaps from both Trump and Clinton supporters, that Donald Trump has been elected as the next president of the United States. There is much that I would want to say about this but I won’t. I do want to address Christians in terms of appropriate response. … Read More “Donald Trump Has Been Elected … Now What?” »
A devotion based on 2 Peter 1:16. Peter came from humble beginnings as a fisherman from Galilee. He was called from his nets by Jesus and eventually became a part of Jesus’ inner circle. Despite a record of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, Peter became one of the most important leaders in … Read More “Devotions: 2 Peter” »
A devotion based on 1 Peter 2:12. In his first letter, Peter writes to a church that is under pressure. They are experiencing persecution and it is making the Christian life difficult. It is always easier to give up but Peter encourages them to hold fast. Among other things, Peter tells them to be careful … Read More “Devotions: 1 Peter” »
A devotion based on Mark 8:33. The Apostle Peter is known for saying and doing the wrong thing but one of the worst experiences was that which resulted in Jesus calling him Satan. Not even the denying of Jesus resulted in such a harsh rebuke. After calling him this name, Jesus went on to explain that … Read More “Devotions: Mark” »
Many scholars doubt that the epistles in the New Testament named after James, Jude and Peter were actually written by those individuals. There is some logic to that doubt. After all, James, Jude and Peter were all blue collar Galileans with no formal education. Yet the Greek and the rhetorical skill found in these letters … Read More “James, Jude and Peter” »
A number of years ago, I had the privilege of being able to speak at a conference in Belgium on the resurrection. One of the speakers was Gerd Ludemann.[i] Although I knew I had some different opinions than Ludemann, I was eager to learn from such a well-known scholar. Ludemann began his presentation with an … Read More “Seeing is Believing” »
